Soave
Soave is made from garganega and trebbiano grapes. It is straw yellow and almost green at times. It is delicate and light with a hint of almonds and perfumes. It has gentle acidity and a slightly bitter finish. Soaves are usually light and fresh. There are three styles of Soave -- dry, spumante (sparkling), and recioto (sweet).
It comes from a town in the Veneto region near Verona. Its name may be attributed to Dante, who called it "suave" because of its mildness. Legend also has it that Rome and Juliet named the wine. After Romeo first met Juliet, a servant offered him some wine. He replied, "Soave." It is unknown whether he was talking about the wine or Juliet.
Soave is good with Baita Friuli, Pastore Sini, Gorgonzola Piccante, Gouda, mild Taleggio, mild Cheddar, and Pecorino Toscano.
Anselmi $14.99 at Central Market. I drank it all and forgot the cheese. This is a very smooth, perfumy wine. I retasted it with several hard, northern cheeses. The cheeses all looked similar and shared some flavors, but not all went with the wine. Nuts, honey, melons, a little like spices (cinnamon and ginger) and maybe marzipan. Medium-bodied. This is very good and very drinkable. Bitter aftertaste, but also strong fruit. Vanilla. It's like a fruit tart with vanilla custard. It has some sugar, but it is fruitier than it is sweet.
Anselmi Soave with Montegrappa. Bitter. Ick! It's too weak for the wine and too grainy.
Anselmi Soave and Baita Friuli. The cheese is very savory. It is creamy with crystallized protein inside. The mixture is bitter, smooth, and then not so bitter at the end. It has pizzaz. It is nutty and savory. The cheese tames the wild, sweet fruit of this wine. They blend very well.
Anselmi Soave with Pastore Sini. These are good together. I like the greasy flavor of the cheese with the perfume and bitter almonds of the wine. It is bitter at the end, but Soave is supposed to be bitter.
Anselmi Soave and Piave. Herby cheese, smooth, Parmigiano-esque. This tastes like bile together. It is good going down, but not so good sticking around.
Bertani Soave 2001 (Tasted in 2004) Classico Superiore. $12.97 at Grapevine. This comes in a short, fat bottle, almost like a fat Burgundy bottle. 12.5% alcohol. The label says that this is a crisp, elegant and stylish white wine. It is created by one of Italy's foremost estates. It is supposed to be lively with a delicate bouquet and graceful, well-balanced structure. It should be served slightly chilled as an aperitif or with seafood, white meats, and vegetarian dishes. I bought this to try with some cold cuts. Its acidity and minerality, and fullness on the palate, should cut through the salt and the fat in my cheeses and cold cuts. I didn't serve it slightly chilled, though. I accidentally froze it in my freezer. I wanted to taste it in the afternoon and then forgot about it overnight. When I found it, the cork had popped out and wine was frozen down the side of the bottle. I put it in a tub of water in the bathtub and thawed it out. It had a definite freezer-burn taste. It was still fruity and a little bitter, but weird and watery at times from the ice. I bought this again later and loved it. I didn't take enough notes on it, though. It was a very nice wine. It had that "honeyed apricot" flavor I keep reading about.
Bertani Soave with Fresh Robiola. Ick! This soft-ripened fresh cheese totally didn't work. It's not the worst in the world. I like the texture with the acidity. It is a little too bitter and earthy from the mold.
Bertani Soave with Pecorino di Fossa. Not so great, but ok. The cheese is too creamy-tasting for the wine. I wouldn't pair these together, but they are not bad.
Bertani Soave with Gorgonzola Piccante. Nutty, spicy, creamy cheese with an acidic, medium-bodied wine. This was not bad together. It makes it all so sweet. The cheese brings out a "nuts and honey" flavor in the wine. I also taste light peppers.
Gini 2002 (Tasted in 2004) Soave Classico. $19.99 a bottle at Whole Foods. 12.5% alcohol. This is supposed to be the best Soave. Perfume smell, honey, and pear. I don't smell almonds. I can taste almonds a little. It has a bitter finish. It is a little tingly. Full-bodied. I was told that this vintage had excellent minerality and acidity, so it could stand up to cheeses and even cold cuts. I used this wine in a cold cut class.
Gini with 4 year Gouda. Salty, sweet cheese with a sweet wine. I like them together. I think I would like it with a milder Gouda. It makes the fruit come out. I really like the fruit and salt together.
Gini with Old Quebec Cheddar. Very good. I think I like Chardonnay better with Cheddar. This is ok, though.
Inama Vin Soave 2004 (Tasted in 2006) $12.50 at Austin Wine Merchant. 12.5% alcohol. DOC wine. Absolutely delicious. Great tingly mineral flavors with some melon and honey. I am not getting much on the nose.
Inama Soave with Asiago Fresco. Very good. There is a little bitterness on the finish, but I love this zingy wine with the creamy, tangy cheese.
Inama Vin Soave with Baita Friuli. Always good. This cheese is very mellow for a mountain cheese and has a lot of floral aromas. It is wonderful.
Inama Vin Soave with Crescenza. Mozzarella Company in Dallas. Excellent. Tangy, lactic cheese with bright, honeyed wine. Like milk and honey.
Pieropan 2001 (tasted in 2002) Soave Classico. I also had the 2002 (Tasted in 2003) Pieropan 2002. Tasted in 2003) $12. This is the number one wine in Soaves. It is frizzante -- a little bit of light effervescence. Light floral, pears, light spice, minerals. Moxie says this would be good with swordfish. It tasted a little like cardboard, but also melons. It tastes like springwater, like when you go on vacation at the lake and drink well water. It tastes clean. Brad says, "It's well water, but wine." Brad likes it a lot
Pieropan Soave Classico and Pecorino Toscano 1 month. Pretty good. Very good.
Pieropan and Taleggio. Good. They don't fight, so long as the Taleggio is mild.
Pieropan and Gorgonzola. Good! Sharp and dry. Not perfect, but good. I tried this pairing later and I liked it a lot. I had put it with a hard salame and it brought out a nice nutty, spicy flavor.
Pieropan with Gorgonzola Verde Dolce. Awful! It tasted ok at first, and then it tasted like paint and very bitter. This Soave needs more of an aged, nutty, smoothed out cheese -- not too young and mellow, but also not too blue and sharp.
Prà Monte Grande Soave Classico Superiore 2001 (Tasted in 2003) 13.5% alcohol. $15.49 at Grapevine. Moxy had suggested I try Gini, but they were out. I want to try this with Montegrappa. Very yellow, almost green-tinted.. It smells like kiwi or melon. Granny smith apples and tart fruit. It tastes a little spicy and a little frizzante, but barely. I taste a little minerals and maybe almonds, but less so than other Soaves. It has an aftertaste of quinine.
Prà Monte Grande Soave with Montegrappa from the Veneto region. These are good together, but I think the wine is a little too heavy for this cheese. I like these together, though, because the cheese has a little bit of floral, herbs, and nuts, and so does the wine. The wine makes the cheese taste extra nutty. These blend together well.
Prà Monte Grande Soave with Parmigiano-Reggiano. This is bitter, but the cheese matches up with it better. This cheese is really salty and nutty. It makes the wine taste nutty and extra fruity, and extra sweet. I guess all the salt in the cheese magnifies the sugar. This is good and I would serve it at a party.
Tamellini Soave Superiore 2001 (Tasted in 2005) I don't know where I got this or how much it cost, but it sure is good. 13% alcohol. Bitter almond, slight mineral/effervescent feel on the tongue, bright apple and peach flavors, but balanced out with some bitterness. This was way too drinkable. It reminds me of a blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. I do taste that almond or marzipan taste on the finish.
Tamellini with Fleur Vert. Herbed fresh goat cheese from France. I just happened to eat these together and they were nice. I loved the herbs with the fresh tasting Soave and the tart, tangy goat cheese was nice as well. It brought out the acidity in the wine. The wine is so full-flavored, yet light, so it goes perfectly with a similar cheese -- herbed, but light style of cheese.